vantagepoint The game that sets your entrepreneurial spirit free Who We Are

Joan Osterloh

Joan started her working career in science and technology, whilst following a parallel personal path of development in the arts and humanities (including paralegal studies, anthropology and communication skills). After serving for 3 years in the CSIR Paris office in the mid-eighties, she returned to South Africa to further her studies at Wits Business School where she completed a Masters in Business Administration.

During the 1990’s she entered the IT industry and successfully developed a career in sales, new business development and customer relationship management. During the same period she was active in human rights organisations and co-founded the Women’s Café in Johannesburg, which gave women a platform for creative expression and led to the formation of South Africa’s first all-women jazz band. Towards the end of the 1990s Joan joined Gartner Africa where she filled various positions in sales, management and, as Client Director, she served on both Gartner’s EMEA and Global Sales Advisory Panels.

Joan has been intricately involved in developing Vantagepoint and the associated training opportunities, and her experience has enabled Vantagepoint to create and successfully sell the game to the first client, the Humanist Committee on Human Rights in the Netherlands. She will continue to expand the marketing and the potential of the game via her role in the South African distributor company, Strategic Productivity (Pty) Ltd.

Mark Williams

Mark’s career has been in IT, starting off in 1980, working for various companies (SPL, First National Bank, Edgars, Deloittes Management Consulting). After completing his MBA at Wits Business School in 1987, he moved into the field of data warehousing, business intelligence and general management. In early 1994, he went into the entrepreneurial world and co-founded Integrated Business Decisions International (Pty) Ltd (IBDI), the premier Arbor Software (later acquired by Hyperion) distributor within South Africa. In mid-1998, IBDI was acquired by Global Technology and he became Managing Director for the Global Technology Business Intelligence division, with a staff complement of 60 people. He led the division to achieve top EMEA distributor for Hyperion in 1999, surpassing PBIT expectations on a regular basis under his tenure.

Mark’s subsequent entrepreneurial ventures provided valuable experience and insights to include into Vantagepoint, a business training tool that teaches people how to run their own business in a fun way.

Mark has been intricately involved in developing and getting Vantagepoint to market, and will continue to expand its reach via his role within the South African Vantagepoint distributor, Strategic Productivity (Pty) Ltd.

Dave Fawcett

Dave’s career started in systems analysis in the UK, and progressed to filling various positions in sales, management, professional services and client relationship management before deciding to move to SA in the 1980’s, where he worked for SPL establishing their Professional Services group for the Comshare Business Intelligence team. Around 1994 he left SPL to help establish a new business venture to distribute the Arbor business intelligence solutions (IBD), which was eventually sold to Global Technology and formed the hub of their GBI division.

Dave’s subsequent entrepreneurial ventures provided valuable experience and insights to include into Vantagepoint. Dave is excited to be moving back to the UK later this year to launch Vantagepoint into the UK market, which has strong entrepreneurial initiatives, and huge potential for the game.
 

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